LEBANON — In response to the growing number of vaping-related illnesses and deaths around the country, Dartmouth-Hitchcock launched a “No Safe Vape” campaign on Tuesday.
The campaign, which the Lebanon-based health care system announced in a news release, aims to educate young people and families in New Hampshire and Vermont about the dangers of vaping — the use of battery-powered e-cigarettes that emit vapor to simulate smoking — and to provide resources for those seeking further information or help quitting.
“The ‘No Safe Vape’ campaign is a significant step forward in the overarching mission to dispel harmful misconceptions about vaping and further emphasize the severity of this nationwide issue,” D-H pediatrician Susanne Tanski said in the release. “It is imperative that we do our best to help people understand the very serious risks of vaping.”
As of Nov. 13, nearly 2,200 cases of vaping-associated lung injury had been reported to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from 49 states (all except Alaska), the District of Columbia, as well as Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Islands. And the CDC had confirmed 42 deaths related to vaping.
New Hampshire has the highest percentage of high school students reporting daily use of electronic vapor products such as vapes and e-cigarettes, according to the CDC’s annual Youth Risk Behavior Survey.
D-H’s No Safe Vape effort includes a new website which provides information about the dangers of the products — “all vapes are laced with poison” — and a comprehensive list of local, regional and national resources.
The campaign also has a presence on social media, where D-H will host a 20-minute Facebook Live event featuring pediatric pulmonologist Brian O’Sullivan, tobacco treatment specialist Kate McNally and Lebanon High School student Emily Galeva on Thursday, at 6:30 p.m. The conversation is timed to allow parents to view with their teenage children.
D-H’s efforts to tackle the problem also extend to Capitol Hill, where Tanski, who specializes in adolescent tobacco use prevention, is scheduled to speak to senators on Wednesday at the invitation of U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., who also hosted a discussion on the topic in Hanover in September.
D-H’s new effort also includes a multi-state advertising campaign and videos about the harmful contents of vape cartridges.
D-H’s campaign launch this week coincides with Thursday’s Great American Smokeout, the American Cancer Society’s nationwide effort to encourage smokers to quit.
Valley News Staff Writer Nora Doyle-Burr can be reached at ndoyleburr@vnews.com or 603-727-3213.
